American Whirlpool catastrophic defrost

[johab]

Hi,
After searching threads in vain for the answer to my problem, i decided to start a new one. Our Whirlpool ARZ740/S packed up on christmas eve, as did our washing machine but that’s another story…

The Whirlpool is I think about 12 yrs old,and it says “made in USA”. It’s old enough not to have a display, and the only controls are two sliders: off/freezer temp, and fridge temp. It’s been fine in the four years since I got it, but has now totally defrosted over a 24 hr period.

The compressor seems to be humming as usual, but the compressor cooling fan exhaust seems to be at room temp so it can’t be generating much heat, therefore it isn’t doing its job. Uncooled air is being blown into the freezer compartment so it reached room temperature within a few hours, and the fridge followed suit.

I have hoovered out dust although the symptoms don’t suggest a gradual loss of efficiency. I had the lower back cover off and there was no water in the evaporation tray.

I have turned the appliance off for 48hrs and there was no sign of any meltwater. I restarted it about half and hour ago but am still not getting any cold air.

From the above symptoms, can anyone give me any clues as to whether this is economically repairable? I know the cost of a compressor would be prohibitive, but could there be some kind of controller fault?

Or should I just get down to currys before the sales finish? I’m tempted, because they are offering £30 off washing machine and f/f bought together.

THanks for reading this.

[SAMURI]

Re: American Whirlpool catastrophic defrost

It sounds like it has lost the refrigerant.

It is most likely the pipe work has corroded and the gas has leaked out.

This is the most common fault on this model.

It can be repaired if you can find a fridge engineer that can repair R134a refrigerant systems in your area.

Bob

[johab]

Re: American Whirlpool catastrophic defrost

Thanks Bob for the quick reply. I rang a local repair man to ask him to take a look, but he was adamant that the lack of heat from the compressor means that it is knackered.

I just took the back off and started it up again, the compressor is definitely humming as usual but is still stone cold after fifteen minutes. There have been several clicks from that area. Still deciding whether to get somebody out, any ideas?

[SAMURI]

Re: American Whirlpool catastrophic defrost

If the compressor is humming for a short time then clicks the compressor has seized.

A compressor can be replaced but it depends on the condition of the fridge if it is worth replacing.

Bob

[johab]

Re: American Whirlpool catastrophic defrost

It’s not in bad nick but it would be a few hundred quid and I would be reluctant to spend that on an elderly fridge, only for something else to go wrong. Thanks again for the advice.

John

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